Little Red
by santana the strange
Summary: When Red is forced out of the castle of the beasts she is thrilled, and takes her leave as fast as she is able, leaving her best friend Belle behind in the process with a beast that is more than horrifying. And as she makes her way to her grandmother's house relief is a bittersweet song, as she has to travel the dark forest only to find herself under the attention of her own mate.
1. Chapter 1

When pretty little Red was asked to leave the castle because of the master's rage and need for her best friend Belle, she admitted reluctantly. She had originally thought that they were all being overdramatic. That was until she'd been in the kitchen finishing up the cookies she'd made for her grandmother.

She'd turned around to put them in a picnic basket and grab the riding hood that her grandmother had made for her when a horrifying monster entered the room. He was a beast surely, one that would and could rip her limb from limb.

And when he'd started making demands about Belle all she could do was stand there, her heart in her mouth, beating a million times a minute and try to stay alive. Of course that had started to look impossible, until Belle and the maid Amandine entered. They'd saved her, Belle mostly, by calming down the beast and turning his attention from her. And then like the weak scaredy cat she was Red had fainted onto the posh marble flooring of the kitchen.

And there she'd lain until Belle had carefully nudged her, possibly checking if she was still alive, and when Red had looked up at her through her own bright blue eyes.

'Are you okay Red?' Belle asked, helping her to sit up. Belle. The strongest woman that Red had ever known, the strongest that she would ever meet as well it seemed. She had told that Beast what was what, she had taken control when Red could barely take control of the heart beating within her body.

'Yeah I think so,' Red said and put her hand to her pale forehead when her vision wavered. 'I'm going to be alright,' she assured her as she ran a hand through her knotted red curls.

'Good. You need to get out of here now. Take your cookies and go to Grandma's house,' Belle ordered and Red nodded. The witchy woman, with the raven hair and the emerald eyes standing before her knew what she was talking about. 'You are in danger here, and until I can sort out my beast of a mate, I want to know you are safe from harm.'

'I'm fine, I'll be fine, and grandma will take good care of me…as she always does.' Red added as she stood, her seductively blood red lips twisted in a frown, her generous breasts heaving with the effort to keep from screaming. She was such a coward, and did not want to seem that way in front of her best friend who had more than enough strength and courage for five of her.

'Good,' Belle said as she handed her the red riding cape and the basket with the cookies in it.

'I'll be seeing you then Belle. Please try to stay alive, and don't turn into one of those beasts yourself,' Red called out, jokingly making light of the awful situation. It was the only thing she could do.

'You too,' Belle called back as Red left the kitchen.

That had been more than an hour ago and now Red was trying to navigate her way through the dark forest that stood between her and her grandma's house, she only wished the cookies would stay fresh until she reached the little cottage. Cottages, in Red's opinion were out dates, like something you would find in a fairy tale, not in the middle of France in the 21st Century, but nevertheless Grandma loved her house in the middle of the forest surrounded by the nature of the world. Oh and snow. Grandma loved snow.

'I hope Grandma will love these white chocolate chip cookies I made for her,' Red mused as she passed another tree coated in snow. All around her there was snow falling from trees and making a light thud noise as it hit the ground. And there were beautiful icicles pointing to the ground from many tree branches, reminding Red of the icicle fairy lights she had at home, except for the fact that these were made of frozen water and would have melted all over her bed covers.

And even though this forest looked like some kind of winter wonderland, it was still teeming with life, from the wolves and the bears that paid her never mind, to the little robins and sparrows that liked to make their nests up in the trees. A cold place yes, but they could still find many twigs and things.

Ooh, not forgetting the snow bunnies, Red told herself when she noticed one of her favourite animals hopping just ahead of her. It turned when it heard the crunch of her footsteps in the snow and wiggled his little pink nose at her. It was so adorable that she wanted to scoop it up in her pale as snow arms and carry it with her. Grandma would love it as a pet she was sure. That was if she didn't try to cook it herself. Grandma lived off the land and the animals here, cooking mainly hares and other small but delicious specimen. Each to their own, the vegetarian Red had always thought. She cared way too much for the animals in this forest to ever want to eat them. Not the deer, not the wolf, nor the bear. She thought they were wonderfully beautiful and should stay where they made their homes.

As she journeyed further into the forest she began to sing a little song to herself to pass the time. It was one her Grandma had always sung to her as a little girl to get her to sleep at night when she was too excited about the forest.

Yes in this forest Red could be brave, she could be strong. This was her forest, nothing in it would ever hurt her, and nothing could hurt her. It was almost as though she had cast a spell around it, keeping herself safe from harm. But then again if she'd been able to do that she'd be a witch, and she most certainly was not. There was not a single drop of magic in her blood, or her heritage.

In the distance a pack of wolves howled and Red smiled. What beautiful music! But then the tune changed. It became almost a warning, and startled Red tripped over a raised root from a tree. What was wrong with the wolves today? She wondered. Did it have anything to do with Belle's mate?


	2. Chapter 2

And as she gathered herself up from the floor and made her way on again, the path to her grandma's house seeming to grow longer and longer. When would she get there? She wondered, suddenly hurrying to get out of the forest. She had this strange sense that something was following her, but that could not be. Could it? Nothing could follow her. They wouldn't dare. Not in this forest where she seemed to have control over everything and anything that lived here. No matter its species, human, animal, or paranormal. Yes paranormal.

'Don't be so ridiculous Red there's nothing there,' she told herself, tying up her hair, pulling her blood red cape closer to ward out the cold. God damn it why had she ever even agreed to go to that castle? She should have known from its name that it was not a place that she wanted to go to. Others had seen that same sense, why hadn't she been able to? Had she known about the horror inside and thought to save her friend from it? She could only wish. She was not as strong as that. If anything Belle had been the one to save her.

'God damn it, why do I always have to be so weak? I am good for nothing, but baking and being a good little granny's girl. That's my Little Red riding hood. Grandma's little girl, who has done nothing but continue to take cookies to the little house in the forest since she was old enough to go by herself.' Red stopped and laughed mirthlessly at herself. Great I sound just like the little girl from the fairy tale, she mused and with another laugh that lacked mirth, she continued on, following the woodland animals that wanted to make their way to grandmother's house too. Somehow they always did, never knowing the deaths that would await them in her stew pot.

'I'll get stronger,' she promised herself, hoping to pep talk her into becoming brave. She so wished it was that easy. If truth be told she had always been so disappointed in herself. She was the weak link in every friendship. There was her best friend Belle, and in the friendship Belle and Red, Belle had always been the strongest and the bravest, she had always saved Red from everything and anything that would hurt or scare the weaker girl. The weaker girl was her. She had no strength, no courage, not out of this forest, and she wished she had.

When a deer, running gaily stopped and blinked at her from huge, beautiful eyes she wondered what it wanted. The doe had never before tried to communicate with her, not even through body language and yet now it was blinking at her, and then it began moving its head, pointing at her and then in another direction. She continued this many times before running away again and Red suddenly found herself compelled to follow the doe.

'Hey wait up!' she called out, not that the deer could understand French, nor English, but it was a chance she had to take. Oddly enough it did stop. It waited until she was standing right beside her and then they made their way into the forest, off the beaten path, away from Grandmother's house.

'No matter, these cookies will stay fresh a little longer,' Red mused and the does looked up at her as though able to comprehend what she was saying. How odd! And then the doe continued through the forest, keeping just ahead of her. 'Hey where are we going anyways?' Red asked her new found friend, curiosity filling her mind.

And as per usual the doe did not respond. Well duh, it is an animal; Red told herself as she placed her hand on the new friend and took comfort from its strangely heated rump. How odd. It was cold here in the forest; surely the animals would be cold on the outside if not on the inside too.

Red decided not to ask the animal again where she was leading her and decided to stay quiet, and as the freezing cold attacked her ears she decided to pull the hood up over her head to keep her ears and brain from freezing. She wished that she didn't have to feel the cold. But hey what kind of choice did she have? None. Exactly. She'd never had a choice. She'd never had a choice to be weak or strong she just was weak. And that was possibly her destiny, as it was Belle's to be tied to a beast for all of eternity.

And as they journeyed further into the forest, it grew darker and darker and night fell. Already? Red wondered. It had only felt like an hour or so since it had been morning. Oh well, perhaps she had lost track of time in the forest. After all that did happen. When in the forest she felt like the Queen and was so excited about everything within it that she lost track of time. So what felt like a mere hour could in fact be five, or even ten. A day could pass in a matter of hours.

And yet she made no move to journey back to the path to her grandma's; she soon forgot about the old woman and the cookies within the basket she held. She too forgot about the creature she had sensed following behind her.

She definitely forgot everything, even breathing when she arrived at the spot where the doe had taken her. It was beautiful.

Standing right before Red was a beautiful waterfall, which fell into a beautiful lake, big enough to swim in and clean enough to possibly have a bath, or shower. Red didn't feel dirty, but she knew that she hadn't bathed last night in the beast's castle, out of dread. And now she fancied a dip or two in this beautiful swimming pool that nature had made. Just for her. Surely.

'Such luck!' she squealed to herself and as she did so, she slowly stripped of her cloak, and her normal clothes. She stripped of everything that she had been wearing, without so much of a care. There was nobody in this forest, nor this glorious spot right here, where she stood. There was nobody to spy on her, not like at the castle, where the walls seemed to have eyes.

Or so she thought…


	3. Chapter 3

Unbeknownst to Red the being that had been following her, right from the second she had entered the forest, was in fact still there, behind her. And just like the other times that she had made her way through the forest he had been so careful as to not be seen by her. And over the years it had worked. She had never been able to see him, or even sense him at all. Not by scent, not by sound and not by anything else. Yet this time she had sensed him. And that fact still baffled him, even as he watched, with bated breath as she began to undress right in front of the lake, the waterfall and him.

'How had she been able to sense me?' He murmured under his breath, as she slipped into the beautifully cooling but not frozen lake. As he had said before, this forest was full of wonders. How could there be snow all around the lake and yet no ice upon the water? It baffled him almost as much as the fact that she had let her guard down even though she had sensed him following her. Then again she would have considered him just a figment of her imagination. After all nothing in this forest would have followed or attacked her. For the most part they seemed afraid of her, and for the second part they seemed to like her. More than they liked him.

And as he watched Red swimming around in the lake, he thought about all the other times she had made her way through this forest. Even as a little girl the forest creatures had loved her. She used to bring flowers and other building products for the birds and carrots for the rabbits, and meat for the wolves. She had been the kindest girl he had ever known. She had been the kindest girl, at least to everyone in the forest but him. That could have something to do with the fact that she had never even seen him, as he had kept out of her sight, following behind her.

Red was a fascination to him. She was beautiful, with those red curls, blood red lips and generous breasts, she was worthy of a man of better stand than he was. And yet he cared not. He had always been drawn to her as she was growing up and now even more so. Now, he wanted her to shed her fake mask, and become the strong, brave and powerful queen of the forest that he knew her to be. Now he wanted to be her king.

And as he watched her he noticed her climbing up out of the water to stand beneath the waterfall, and there she stood, in all of her naked glory, from the generous breasts, tipped with nipples as red as her lips to her curvaceous waist and child baring hips. She was made for him. Well he didn't know that for sure. He had never felt the mark on his lower back burn or itch whenever she was around. But perhaps that was because she hadn't returned to the forest in such a long time.

And when she wasn't there he found himself yearning to just to see her, for he felt so lonely when she wasn't around. There were no animals living in this forest that accepted him for what he was, none that would speak to him, or even make any kind of communication with him. Not like the doe's and the rabbits and the birds did with little Red. And when she was around as she was now, he was always overcome by the need to reveal himself to her, to speak to her, to court her, to hold her in his arms. To kiss her. Of all the things he desired of her, a kiss was the thing that he wanted above all.

Just to taste those blood red lips, and finally see what they tasted like. The desire, the wondering had kept him awake for many nights. And sometimes he thought that if he could just have one taste then he would be satisfied. Maybe then he would keep from constantly wondering all the time. Maybe then he would be able to sleep.

But now, watching her as she was, showering beneath the waterfall, cleaning herself, he realised that one mere kiss would not be enough to sate his desires, to keep him from hungering for her. He knew that he would never be satisfied until she willingly gave herself to him. He wanted to know the delicious taste of her body. Not just her lips. He wanted to consume her fully and completely. He wanted to be the only one she thought of in a sexual manner, he wanted her to want to trek through the forest more often, if only to see him. He wanted her to look at him and swoon. He wanted to be her everything.

But because of who and what he was, that could never happen. And as the full moon made its climb to the middle of the night sky for the second night in the pattern, he slowly backed away from the clearing and as he began to change forms, he howled, aggrieved at being interrupted in his ogling at the woman he wanted.

But more than that he was aggrieved at the change he had to make every full moon, the form he had to take. No the form that would always consume him it seemed.


	4. Chapter 4

And as Red showered there beneath the waterfall, she thought she could sense something watching her, following her, like she had before, and when the full moon rose, she could have sworn she'd heard a strangled howl, as though it had been made in denial. Yet she still made no hurry to shower, adoring the cold of the water and midnight breeze against her naked body. Here she was one with nature, and that's just how she liked it. She just loved it.

There she stayed beneath the fall until the dulcet tones of the howl finished and all she could think of was that it was late, and that she really ought to be getting on to her grandmother's house. Not because it was dark and scary. Hmph! Scary? Not in her forest! But no she had told her grandmother she would be less than a day arriving, so that the cookies could stay fresh.

So leaving the natural pool she made her way to the edge of it, where her clothes where and where some sort of weird fur had been laid like a towel. Odd, did the woodland wolves actually see her as one of their own that much that they would shed their fur just for her? No it still seemed odd, for that would need a human brain to understand such human logic. So how had this been left? Red was convinced that she was surely right.

Having changed, Red started back for the beaten path, hoping that she could find her way back again. She dearly hoped that it was possible, she had never walked off the path before, had never been compelled to.

'Now where had I come out from before?' she asked and looked from the right and the left of the waterfall. 'It was the right hand,' she decided, unknowing that, that path would lead to a not so sweet and beautiful natural sight as the one she had found. Unknowing that that path would take her to her destiny, she followed it.

And as she walked further and further into the forest, she began to realise certain difference from her forest that surely couldn't be. For example, there was no more snow on the floor or on the trees at all. No birds sung in their nests, for there was none. No rabbits hopped daintily on the floor, their little noses twitching at they looked back to nod at her. It was just so different. Where the forest she knew, had been like a winter wonderland, this one looked as though the floors and the trees had been dipped in oil and then arranged together like it was supposed to be a forest. Yet she knew it couldn't be.

As she passed trees, she noticed that they made different shapes, some having gnarled trunks and branches that seemed to reach out like grabbing arms at her. Not only that but many of them seemed to also have holes in the trunks that looked like gaping mouths. All of these things should have made her feel unsafe, should have made her run in all kinds of directions, but they didn't. They too, like the snow forest seemed normal to her. She was still in the sense that she was safe here, that nothing would hurt her…if there was even anything within this forest.

No sooner had she been wondering about the state of the forest when there seemed to appear out of nowhere: bats. And one of the things that she had never told anybody in her entire life, not even Belle, was the fact that she actually loved bats, they were, after wolves her favourite animal. They were just so graceful, the way they flew, flapping their wings in synchronisation. And the beautiful screeches they made as they went through the dark just increased her attraction of them.

And when this specific bat flew just above her, she was overwhelmed with the need to reach up and catch it. Yet, just like the butterflies she had tried to catch as a little girl on the way to grandma's house, this bat evaded her, flying just a little further and a little higher in front of her than she could reach. And it screeched happily as though mocking her efforts, so she tried just that little bit harder, wondering if it could hear her every movement with its super hearing.

Red was concentrating too heard on trying to catch the animal that she didn't even see the dip in the ground, until she was rolling down the hill, the bat having flown way. It had left Red at the bottom of what looked and felt like a steep hill. One that she could not climb herself, for it seemed very slippery, with something that smelled very much like iron, but in the dark she could not see just what it was, and didn't want to make any assumptions.

Red, turned around and looked at the only way she could actually continue, into the darker forest where the trees seemed to get closer, and the holes in the trees seemed to grow actual teeth. Again she was not as scared as Belle would have expected her to be, and so continued without a hitch in her step or her breath.

And when Red reached the end of this supposedly creepy forest she sighed in irritation and whispered to herself.

'Not this again.'


	5. Le Chateau de sang

What Red spoke of was something more fearful than the castle of the beasts. The building that towered above her now could have been identical to the castle where Belle was being held if it weren't for the blood red flags upon each turret. On each flag was an identical emblem, of which identified the castle as that of her father, Lord Tristram. These flags were decorated with chalices, of which contained what_ looked_ like wine.

Red hadn't been here since the divorce, when her mother Lady Nina, had left, disgusted about the way her father ate his meals. Her mother was a vegetarian and they had disagreed about what to feed their daughter as she grew to be a Lady too. Red had wanted to be vegetarian too and had decided to stay with her mother. Her father couldn't have much say in any of the court results because he had never arrived. He couldn't go.

And as she stared up at that castle, knowing that one day she would inherit it, Red was overcome with her first sense of dread since entering this dark forest. Not because she was scared of her father, but because she was scared of what would become of her when she entered that building. There was a reason she hadn't been in so long. And now she was here, there was no stopping what would soon happen to her. She would have loved to turn around and run back through that forest but she knew that one of her father's servants would soon be coming to collect her.

'My blazes, is that you Miss Red?' No sooner had she thought about the servant than one appeared. It was a maid, dressed in red and white. Yes the stereotypical outfit of a maid was the black and white dress with the apron on the skirt, but this was no ordinary maid, none of the servants were. And the deep, almost blood red attire was mandatory of the servants; they could not choose what to wear. It was a darn good thing that they loved these colours as much as her father did.

'Yes Senka,' she replied, and before the maid's eyes the Lord's daughter became confident and imposing. This was the true Red. 'Now, where is my father?' she demanded of the servant who suddenly became fearful, and Red wondered if she was accidentally bearing her teeth. It was a bad habit she had learned from her father, on how to keep the servants under control. Even if_ they_ had scared her as an infant.

'R-right this way Miss,' the maid replied with a nervous stutter as she lead her through the gates and into the dark grounds of the castle where gargoyles were as much a part of the staff as they were the scenery. 'If I may comment, you haven't been her in as long as I can remember. Is there a reason for that?'

'No you may not comment, but I will answer your question anyway,' Red snapped, making the servant shrink back. She would rather have them be scared of her than her be scared of them. To show fear in her father's castle was to show weakness, and he would not have his kin show any kind of weakness, for he was the strongest. The strongest could not have a weak daughter; it would be bad on his reputation. 'My mother and father divorced on matters of diet and I agreed to live with my mother because eating what my father ate actually made me very, very poorly indeed,' Red explained and gave the maid a friendly smile.

'Oh,' Senka said and Red frowned at the maid's fear. Something that would not do. Senka had been around for as long as Red had known and the blonde haired, blue eyes, very pale beauty had not seemed to age a day. Senka had been there from Red's birth. She had been more of a mother to her than the Lady Nina had, but blood was blood to Red and so she had left Senka behind when she had left.

Senka had been found wandering the dark forest, lost and afraid. You could say that she was feral, eating anything and everything she could find, including bats! Lady Nina had been pregnant and the child within her making her emotions a little different than usual. Nina had taken pity on the woman and invited her to work in the castle. The new maid had loved Nina like a sister, had been overjoyed at the first sight of the woman's swollen stomach and had spoken and felt at the bump. Senka had always longed for a child of her own, but it had been something that could never be.

When the child was born Lady Nina gave her one name and Senka gave her another. Senka named her Red, after her favourite colour, and it had been the name that Lady Nina had allowed her daughter to be called when they had left the castle after the divorce.

And for the past ten years Senka had cried at night wishing for the daughter she never had to return to her. After all Senka had been Red's wet nurse, had been there in the night when Red could not sleep and when she had wanted company. Her mother had been out shopping in the night time with her father; after all they could not very well trust the servants to find good food.

'But you have returned now Red,' Senka was overjoyed at that and Red smiled, this time careful to keep tooth out of it.

'Of course Senka. He always knew I would return…when the time was right,' Red said with a monotonous tone of voice. He always knew things before they happened. He called it a gift, she considered it a curse.

'I am so glad that you are here,' Senka said and did the bravest thing Red had ever seen her do. Senka put an arm around Red and hugged her tight to her generous bosom. 'My child,' she whispered and Red felt tears prick in her eyes. Yes, she was more Senka's daughter than she had ever been Nina's. Senka had loved and cared for her more; had willingly fed her from her breast as an infant when her mother had always refused. She had stayed with the infant through the nights when she was teething and had taught her to talk, walk and had potty-trained her.

'Mother,' Red whispered as she clutched the maid tighter and together they entered Le Chateau de sang, to her father's delight.

'You have returned,' Lord Tristram's voice boomed out, strong and powerful as he emerged from the shadows of the landing. There were two staircases, one either side, with matching blood red carpets which lead up to the landing where he stood. Staircases that Red had ran up and down to the joy of Senka. Senka had always commented, saying that Red had pulled on her heart strings with those cute little pudgy hands and cheeks.

Red had loved the softness of Senka's blood red lips on her pale cheeks, and Senka had adored the kisses from Red's identically coloured lips.

'Now the festivities can finally begin, for the daughter becomes a Lady de sang tonight,' her father announced and chills ran up Red's spine. Would she come to stomach the French delicacies that her father so delight in? The real question was: could she?


	6. Home sweet home!

'Father,' Red spoke, acknowledging him with a quick curtsey, before straightening her body and staring him dead in the eye. Was he really going to do this to her?

'You have no choice daughter, once you stepped across the threshold of our castle you were destined for the transformation,' her father informed her, a sly, evil smile across his face. He was clearly thinking of the power he would gain from her. After all if she did take after her father she would be a very powerful Lady de sang.

The transformation from daughter to Lady would change so many things about Red and many of those things she didn't want to be changed, for example her diet. She was a vegetarian she loved all animals and mammals equally. Yes her father had always blamed her mother; he had accused her of forcing the lifestyle of a vegetarian on their only daughter. He had since that day been trying to persuade her to become a carnivorous creature like him. He was always describing his meals to her, hoping to make her envious in the process. It never had, it had only served to make Red more disgusted by his habit.

'I know that father, but so did you,' Red reminded him, letting him know that she knew the real reason behind her appearance here after so long. 'Trust me I did not choose to come here, I was off to grandma's house,' she finished with a snarl of her own as she ascended the right set of stairs to her father.

'Oh that woman was always such a nuisance, I could never understand why your mother wanted to turn her,' Lord Tristram replied and as Red tried to process the information, her face betrayed her feelings of shock. Her grandma had been turned? Was that the reason why she never seemed to age? Red had always just thought that the woman was just so youthful. She could never have even guessed the truth behind it.

'Well I for one am glad that she did, it means I will have my grandma around for a little longer,' Red voiced her opinion, to her father's disgust. He had always hated grandma, had always wondered why she had chosen to live in that little cottage in the forest beside his, instead of living with Lady Nina where she knew she would have been a lot safer from him. Why make Red take the journey through the white forest whenever she wanted to see her Grandma? Did she not realise that Red would, could lose her way in the forest and be delivered to another, colder, darker different place?

'Now come daughter, come and become the Lady you were born to be,' Lord Tristram ordered, holding out his clawed hand out for her to take. Red hadn't held her father's hand since she was a little girl, not until she discovered what her father, her family was. What she would, one day, inevitably become. That time was now.

'What if I refuse?' Red demanded, wanting to refuse him this honour. Yes she was the sole heir of Le Chateau de sang, and her father's blood line would die out if she did not do this thing. But she didn't want to change who she was. She just couldn't see why her father couldn't love her for who she was. Her mother had been able to. Her mother had always longed to be the same as Red.

'You think that you could overpower me daughter?' Lord Tristram was ten times as strong as any other human, male or female. 'You believe you could outsmart me?' he was the most logical being in France, if not the entire world. She could not hope to beat him through brains, nor brawn. He was just a creature with which she could not compete. And if she did refuse him he would not hesitate to kill her and mate with another woman, creating another child that would be subservient, another child that would willingly take the transformation, with a smile on his face. Yes, his face, Lord Tristram had always craved a son; made no secret about the fact that he wished that Red had been a boy.

'No, father I could not,' Red replied forlornly as she took his hand. She did not want to die, by his hand. She would like to die, one day, but she would not want to enter Hell. 'Lead me to the room,' she reluctantly added as he pulled her along.

'Be well my daughter,' Senka said and Red looked back with a grimace.

'Come,' Lord Tristram demanded as he pulled her down a corridor that looked as though it was covered in blood, and opened a black door that lead to a set of stairs, that would spiral down to the dungeons below.

This is really going to happen; Red realised with dread as they reached the bottom of the stairs and her father took a key from his breast pocket of his black cloak and unlocked the dungeon doors. The metal doors opened with an audible creak that sent fear rushing down Red's back.

'You'll make a wonderful Lady de sang…if you don't refuse the transformation,' her father informed her, always reminding her of what would happen if she rejected the title…she would die. Not because he would kill her, but because the transformation would take everything there was out of her and spit it back out, just a pile of bones left where she should have been. Yet the transformation would still take everything there was out of her, but it would spit out a stronger woman.

'Yes father,' Red replied, trying to steel herself against what would soon happen to her. After all the transformation could also kill her if she was not strong enough. After all she had refused to take any of her father's training or teachings.

They walked down the rows of cells until they reached an open room in the middle of the dungeon. There was a table in the centre, old brick walls facing inwards, and on top of the table was a chalice, a Lady de sang chalice. And not just any chalice…this was her chalice. It had been constructed for her at birth. She was to drink from this chalice and…change.

And for the first time in her life she wished that she had taken her father's training and passed with flying colours. Red believed that there was not any way in hell that she could drink the contents of that chalice. It would surely make her sick. She had realised that it wasn't only her will power that could deny the transformation, but her stomach. If she couldn't digest that whole chalice then she would die.

When she'd moved away from the castle with her mother, Lady Nina had tried to train her to drink a whole chalice, just in case of such an event. After the third time her daughter had thrown up the chalice Nina had decided that it was just too cruel. So she'd sent Red away to college, in the hope that she would be safe from her father and his cruel universe there. What luck!

'You know what you must do Red,' Lord Tristram reminded her as he flung her into the middle of the room. 'Drink and live, grow stronger, more powerful my daughter. If your body refuses, you were never good enough to be my daughter. Die and I refuse to admit you as my daughter. Do not disappoint me,' he finished, and Red looked up, grazes on her face from where she had fallen.

'Father,' she whispered forlornly, hoping, praying that that one word would get through to him, and make him see the cruelty he was imposing on her. She could not live as he did. She could not become a true daughter. Even if she could pass the transformation, she would not live on the diet that he could. She just didn't have a strong enough stomach.

'Drink and become a Lady de sang, die and disappoint me. Don't disappoint me daughter,' Lord Tristram snarled, and the words he used reminded her of the times when she was younger, when she loved her father and wanted to please him. She had always wanted to make him proud, and she never had been able to, his standards of giving praise were just too high for her. And regretfully a huge part of her still wanted that praise. He was her father after all, even if he didn't act like it at time. She wanted to make him proud of her; she wanted to make him love her, because he never had before. He'd always considered her weak just because she was a woman.

'Drink and become a Lady de sang, and I will be so proud of you daughter, I will love you, I could never love you in the weak form that you were born in. If you didn't know, your frail being was the only reason I could never love you, I could never hug you for the fear of crushing you to death. I wished for this for you since you were an infant my daughter,' her father announced and she gasped at such a revelation and when he left the room she was left with her thoughts alone.

And when she heard the door lock from the outside as her father locked her in, as part of the transformation she reached for the chalice that had her name on it. She reached for the chalice of life and drank…


	7. Chapter 7

And as Red drank the crimson liquid, her stomach began to revolt against it, but the woman's will was strong enough that she managed to keep the _first _chalice full down. Yes, there was something different about this transformation. Whenever she managed to drink the chalice down and digest it, the chalice refilled itself.

Red was not worried, this wasn't an odd part of the transformation, she had heard that her mother had had her chalice refill as she didn't have enough of the substance in her body, and needed to adjust herself to it more. That's what happened when a person became a Lord or Lady de sang. Persons like her and her mother. At least, like they had been, for Red could feel it in herself. She was changing.

And as she chugged down more and more of the warm liquid it began refilling, but Red was suddenly become accustomed to the taste, to the temperature of it. In fact she was beginning to like the taste of the liquid. She was beginning to like it even more than she liked other foods. Red was taking the giant leap between Vegetarian and Lade de sang. It was the most unlikely thing she had ever come across in her life. She never thought she'd be able to drink a whole chalice, let alone the two or three she was so easily sipping at the moment. But after she drank the first chalice her hunger for the substance had grown exponentially and her stomach began to crave the thick crimson liquid.

By the time she was licking her lips, the chalice had drained itself completely, was not going to refill anymore. Red gulped audibly as she recalled her father telling her what would happen when she had finished the chalice completely. Pain.

And as the last of the crimson liquid hit her stomach, the muscles in her arm seized up and she dropped the chalice to the floor. When the muscles in her back followed the same effect, Red was sent to her back, where she began to experience a seizure. Now was the time for Fate to decide. Would she become a Lady or would she die?

And as she began to shake, her arms and legs and stomach, every single part of her hurt as though she'd been placed into a blender and mixed a million times. And just like a piece of fruit in the blender, her state would change and she would become a stronger version of herself.

As she passed out on the floor, her vision wavering, she felt as though she'd spiralled into a deep dark cavern, and as she reached up a pale hand to the chalice, to the room in which she had been in, but she couldn't quite reach and the light disappeared from her grasp.

_As the door banged open to the dungeons Usha looked up from her spot on the floor, her new found fangs aching in her mouth, awaiting the arrival, no the return of her father. Would he like the new form she had taken on? Would he finally take her hunting with him? Like she'd secretly always wanted. _

_ 'Father?' She asked, hesitantly. What if he didn't like the size of her fangs or her muscles? What if he deemed her lacking? What if he told her that she was small in every aspect because she was female instead of the male that should have been born? She didn't think she could handle that, but she was almost as strong as he was now, she could fight him, until he liked her for who she was._

_ 'Little red riding hood?' A different voice called out, a voice she had never heard before, at least not in waking hours. But she knew that he must have seen her before, for he called her by the name her grandmother had always called her by. It was a side effect for having been given a red riding hood for her birthday. It was probably the reason Senka had given her the nickname Red, since she was a little girl._

_ 'Who's there?' Usha asked, climbing from the floor and bearing her fangs. She reached for the chalice, hoping there was still a drop of blood there, for she was starving and needed to feed from something. Perhaps it was time for that something to become somebody. The intruder would not live past this night. Usha would make sure of it. Not just to feed from, or to make her father proud, but to build up her strength. For he was bound to put up some kind of a fight. They always did, or so her father liked to tell her. _

_ 'My name is Caleb. I have come to rescue you. I realised that you had been kidnapped by the evil Vampire Lord that inhabits this castle,' Caleb announced and Usha sneered as she entered the light and saw him. Yes he was beautiful with that midnight black hair and tanned complexion, but those eyes, as green as they were could not be classed as human. Good, looked as though she had more than a good enough fight on hand. Nevertheless, a strong first opponent would make her even stronger if she managed to vanquish him._

_ 'Caleb, you came to the wrong part of the forest. This is my father's castle. I am Usha, the princess of Death,' Usha said and flashed him a fang, letting him know that she was just as bad as her father. At last, like father like daughter._

_ 'You-you're the Lady Usha?' Caleb asked, his wolf like green eyes going wider as he spoke._

_ 'Of course I am, well I have been for about two or three minute now. And I'm weak Caleb. I am so hungry,' she informed him and when her fangs began to ache she lunged for him, with new found super speed, and agility. Yet when he dodged out of the way she could see that he was just as fast and as flexible as she was. She was going to have to think about this logically, if she was going to get to drain him._

_ He was handsome, perhaps she could change her strategy and try seduction, and after all she was more beautiful now that she had become a vampire._

_ 'So Caleb, have you ever seen a Lady de sang before?' Usha asked, making sure to lower her voice to a husky growl. _

_ 'Not before you.'_

_ 'Never realised how beautiful one could be huh?' She asked, removing the top button on her dress. Perhaps her brand new ample, or more ample, chest would distract him for a while before he could leave and before he could kill her. She was strong god damn it and this man was no kind of challenge. _

_ 'No, not really,' Caleb's voice already sounded husky. Good, so she hadn't been hallucinating when she thought that the guys from school had been obsessed with her looks, but mostly her ample chest. _

_ 'I bet you'd love to touch one?' Usha put a lot of her power into the question. If she could just get him closer, if she could just get him to touch her, then he'd become like any other male of any species and get so distracted by her that he wouldn't see her coming until it was too late._

_ 'Oh yes,' Caleb replied and when she pushed her bust out even more he made her way over to her. Yes, her power was strong, the power of beauty and a weaker version of her father's power: mind control._

_ 'Then come,' she said and when he was close enough, when he was almost reaching out to her, she grabbed his head and twisted it, breaking his neck and dropping his lifeless body to the floor. 'And here I thought you would be some kind of a challenge for me,' Usha added as she crouched beside his body and pierced his neck with her fangs. _


	8. Usha

When Red awoke from her transformation, she was no longer Little Red, but Usha, the princess of Death and a Lady de sang. Not only that, but she was thirsty, she cared not for food, but she craved blood, like she'd never craved any other thing in her entire life.

'Father,' she called out as her fangs dipped low in her mouth, almost pricking her tongue on them. When no response came she gathered herself from the floor and began to make her way to the dungeon door. However before she even reached the door, even though she was quick with her new form, there came a knock on the door. 'Father,' she called out once more, but when the door itself opened up, she realised that her father was not coming. So was it one of the servants then?

'No!' Usha screamed when the mark on her left thigh began to ache. Confused she looked down, wondering if she had damaged it in her transformation. No; the closer she got to the door the more agony she experienced in her mark. It felt as though someone had stabbed a dagger of fire through her mark, for it was weakening like nothing ever had. What was going on? She wondered to herself as the door opened fully and she found herself standing, and staring, face to face with an exceedingly handsome young man. A man who was not a vampire, yet still very much immortal.

A man she recognised, a man she had seen in a vision whilst she was transforming. And in that vision he had come here, to her; she would bet a pitcher of his fresh blood his next words.

'Little Red riding hood?' He asked and she smiled, flashing her fangs. Oh but they were so dainty, would her father hate their size? Or the size of her new found muscles? No, she decided next, as her confidence grew, he would love them; he would take her hunting just as she had secretly wanted these many years.

'Who's there?' Usha asked of him, she could see his beauty. And oh how beautiful he was indeed with hair as black as midnight and a complexion the sun god would envy for it was as golden as the sands of Egypt, and those eyes, as green as they were could not belong to a human. He was very much something else indeed. Something that took on a human form by day.

'My name is Caleb. I have come to rescue you. I realised that you have been kidnapped by the evil Vampire Lord who inhabits this castle,' Caleb announced and Usha sneered as she entered the light, allowing him his first glimpse of her, and yet as she neared him the pain in her thigh grew to extortionate levels. Well, well, so that was who he was? She laughed and the sound drew his gaze to her fangs.

'Caleb, you came to the wrong part of the forest. This is my _father's _castle. I am Usha, the princess of death,' Usha said and flashed him another fang, yet this one throbbed in time to the beat of her heart. It was beating?! Yes this was even more evidence of who he was. And he didn't even know the half of it.

'You-you're the lady Usha?' He asked, and she saw him wince and drop his hand to his similar mark on his left thigh, clearly wondering what the pain there was.

'Of course I am,' she informed him regally, after all she was a Lady de sang, as noble as she was fair. 'Well I have been for about two or three minutes now. And I'm weak Caleb. I'm so hungry. Won't you feed me?' she asked, her tone husky, she'd read enough of her mother's diaries to know that the way to snare a male, any male, was to act as though you were attracted to them and would die if you didn't have them. Looked like it worked for her, until she'd been turned, and then she had died, for a while.

When he didn't speak, she realised that he must be in too much pain, or so struck by her increased beauty that he was speechless. So, perhaps she just had to make him want her more than their fated connection wanted him to want her.

'Have you ever seen a Lady de sang before, Caleb?' Usha asked, making her voice a husky _growl_. If she was right about his origins, then any growling on her part would help her to seduce him. Well the growling and her body would help to snare him; to bring him close enough for her to reach, to drink from. She needed a drink.

'Not before you,' he admitted and she smiled a wicked smile, before running her tongue over a fang. When she caught him staring she bit her lip 'til blood pooled and sucked on it. She saw him gulp.

'Never realised how beautiful one could be huh?' Usha asked, removing the top button on her dress. Perhaps her brand new ample, or more ample, chest would distract him for a while before he could leave or before he could kill her. She was strong god damn it and this man was no kind of challenge.

'No not really,' Caleb's voice sounded husky. Good, so she hadn't been hallucinating when she thought that the guys from her school have been obsessed with her looks, but mostly her ample cleavage.

'I bet you'd love to touch one, especially me,' Usha put a lot of power behind her statement. If she could just get him closer, if she could just get him to touch her, then he'd become like any other male, so distracted by her body that he wouldn't see her coming until it was too late.

'Oh yes,' Caleb said and the tone of his voice did something very odd to her. Usha felt her breasts swell and her nipples pearl at his tone. Was she aroused? It seemed that she was, very much so.

As he stepped closer and closer she became more and more aroused, suddenly she didn't have to pretend attraction, because she was fighting it!

'Touch me,' she begged and then wanted to shake her head, no she was not going to beg. She was not one of those weak human females.

'You have no idea how long and how much I've wanted you to say those very words to me,' Caleb said and when he stopped she knew she was gonna ask her to beg once more. But she didn't want to beg. The fire in her belly said that her body was at war with her head.

'Caleb please,' Usha finally begged, hating herself for it. 'Touch me,' she begged, and when he stepped closer she sighed in relief.

When he raised his hand to her cheek and stroked it tenderly she sighed, like she would have done had they met when she was a human female. Then, when his thumb brushed across her bottom lip she almost groaned, she did nip his flesh to draw blood from him; oh god! His blood was the most exquisite she had ever tasted, like chocolate.

'More,' she wanted more, she had to have more, and it was so delicious. 'Give me more,' she begged, taking her fangs out of his flesh, only to bite deeper, but he removed his thumb completely.

'What does my little mate want?' He asked and before she could answer, before she could moan about the removal of his thumb, he'd replaced it.

With his mouth…

And as he kissed her, sweetly to begin with, then, when she clutched him with her new claws, he deepened the kiss angling her head to take her mouth in a more passionate kiss. He hardly knew her, but oddly he knew exactly what she wanted and how she liked her kisses, though she'd never been kissed before.

'Caleb,' she moaned and bit down on his tongue, taking the kiss and turning it into a blooded kiss, just as her eyes slid closed.


	9. Usha refuses to leave

'Quick we have to get you from here,' Caleb told Usha the moment she awoke from her slumber. He sat there besides her, watching her and she wondered what he was thinking. But leave, why should she leave when everything was just perfect now? Usha was the vampire she was born to be, and soon she would have the relationship she was supposed to have with her father. She didn't want to leave. She was going to live a life so happily with her family here in the castle, why should she leave her heritage for some…some man?

'No, I'm not leaving,' Usha informed him as she climbed up from the floor and made her way towards the dungeon door which had locked itself once again when Caleb had entered. How had he made his way through a locked door? Usha wondered to herself. And besides that how the hell did he, a werewolf, get in the castle and down through the corridor here? Surely any vampire servant would have tried to murder him as he tried to get through the door. Surely they would have succeeded too. Were they dead?

'You have to, your father will return soon and then he will make you harm innocents; even kill them perhaps. Vampires are evil. Look, I bought your friend…' he trailed off when she gave him the dirtiest look ever.

'Vampires. Are. Evil. Do you even understand what you're saying? I am a vampire, does that make me evil too, my father is the man you consider evil, does that make me inherently evil?' Usha asked of Caleb, her supposed fated mate. Well perhaps Fate had either gotten his wire s crossed and didn't know what he was doing or his whole logic was flawed because she could never ever f all in love with this man. He hated everything about her; yes she had hated the possibility of becoming like this but now that she was a vampire she loved everything about it, the strength, the beauty but most of all the blood. She'd never been able to stomach the crimson liquid before, but now she didn't think she could go a day without it. And she was due for today's meal. At least the first one. And after that long nap she could feel her body draining of strength and vitality. If she didn't drink from someone and soon she could possibly die.

'Well I wasn't putting you with the category, you haven't done anything evil…yet,' Caleb said and she bared her fangs in an angered hiss. Yet? He just had to add that, didn't he as though he had doubts? No, she wasn't evil, but she would drink only from a living host and that host would have to be human. She'd heard all about vampires that had taken blood from animals, even wolves. And there was a reason that Vampires hated werewolves. And there may be a reason that Fate had chosen Caleb as her mate after all.

'But I will, is that what you're saying?' Usha returned and when he took her arm, thinking of pulling her towards the door and out of the castle she snatched her arm back.

'You won't mean to, but because you'll want to please your father and be his treasured daughter for the first time in your life you will kill as he kills you will hunt as he hunts,' Caleb said and when she tore back her hand she punched him square in the face, only to recoil as she felt the pain as well as he did. Great, so they were connected by fate. She couldn't kill him without dying herself and she couldn't even hurt him without hurting herself, which meant that she couldn't bite him without feeling as though someone was biting her, she couldn't feed from him, not that she would want to anyway, she wouldn't lower herself to his standards.

'How do you know all of this?' She had never spoken to anyone about her secret desires to be accepted by her father, not even her mother, or Belle. She didn't want them to think that she loved the tyrant vampire lord more than she loved them. They would never have been able to understand the need to be accepted by her father, the need to be loved and protected by a strong man.

'How could I not know of this? I am your mate and also I can see it written all over your face and in the way you speak about your father. You need to let this obsession go Usha he may love you as a vampire but he will never love you truly, because in your heart you are not a vampire, you never wanted this Usha, you wanted to remain as Red, a human,' Caleb said and she resisted the urge to punch him once more. Even as she thought that she considered going through with the pain.

'He's my father, I am a vampire, my family are vampires that's who I'm supposed to be,' Usha said and tried to push him out of the way so she could get to the door and call for her father. He would know how to sort this out without hurting her. Hell, he was her father, he was the strongest of all the creatures she knew, he could reach Fate and ask him to reverse the situation. He could do it couldn't he? See, this was the reason that Usha looked up to her father, respected him and wanted to be accepted by him. Her father was powerful and could do anything, she wished she was like him. He was her idol. There was nobody like him.

'If that's what you believe,' Caleb began and she looked at him oddly, wondering why he was just dropping the conversation like that. 'But someone else might disagree with you. Sure I know nothing about you, but this person you have been good friends with for a very long time, and she needs you right now. She left her mate so that she could help you.' And as Usha sat there wondering what the hell he was talking about, and also considering that werewolves might be a bit damaged in the head, there came a loud crash and the dungeon door fell down onto the ground, plumes of dust billowing around it as it did so.

'So, Usha you have risen,' a familiar female voice asked and she turned to see Belle standing there, a look of pity on her face. 'Come Red, this is never what you wanted, come with me and I'll see if I can't find a spell to reverse this disorder,' she finished and Usha was warming up to her best friend, until that last word: disorder. Belle believed she had a disorder.

'I'm not leaving with you,' she informed them and Belle sighed and turned to Caleb; were they friends?

'Caleb, grab her,' Belle called out and when the werewolf did move to take hold of her, there was a surge of electricity that seemed to flash from where held her to her entire body. And then when she looked back over at her "best friend" she seemed to be muttering something. She'd finished, the spell or whatever it was and Usha found her arms were bound by some kind of invisible rope and every time she tried to move they became tighter.

'What have you done to me Belle?' And why am I so comfortable here in the werewolf's arms? An abomination should she say. For that's what they were. Werewolves were the offspring of vampires who had taken wolvine DNA within them. And as though the vampire had mated with a wolf herself the offspring would be just like Caleb, a werewolf. And these werewolves would mate with their own kind and after a long, long time the descendants of the werewolf would forget all about their heritage. The only thing they would recall is the fact that, for some reason or another they hated the vampire and all of its brethren. They would believe them to be evil, as that was how they were brought up to believe. A wronged belief that would continue on from one generation to another, though their ancestors were Vampire. Even some of the werewolves had the same need for blood.


	10. Chapter 10

'Let go of me!' Usha demanded as her mate and her so called friend Belle dragged her from her father's castle, and all those who spotted them were petrified by a spell she could come up with. So Belle had tapped into her magic quite quickly then? Usha mused and then she began to panic. If Belle had progressed to this state this quickly then perhaps she could do the unthinkable, the impossible and turn Usha back into the human female that she had been.

And with that realization she intensified her struggles against both the invisible bonds and the arms of her mate Caleb. Yet again the bonds tightened around her wrists, stopping what little blood she had within her body getting there. She cried out in pain and stopped her movements before she chopped off her hands. Yes a vampire could regenerate said hands, but they had to have enough blood in their system to do so.

'Where shall we settle down for the night?' Belle asked of Caleb and Usha wanted to scream in the frustration that they were completely ignoring her. Now what was she to do? She couldn't be out in the daylight and the dawn would soon come. Would both her "best friend" and mate allow her to be murdered by the devious sun? They considered her evil, but by taking her from her father, a dark castle and a building filled to the rafters with blood was even more cruel.

'If we can find Red's grandmother's house before the sun rises we should be safe,' Belle said and Usha was heartbroken to hear her still refer to her as the commoner name Red. She was not Red, she was a Lady of the blood, she was basically the royalty of Vampires.

'Good idea, but what if she's hungry what do we do then?' Caleb asked and she wanted to nod furiously at that. She was very hungry indeed, and there was nothing for her to drink out here. She couldn't feed from her mate or her best friend. The former would bring her pain to and the latter would probably be disgusted by the need and refuse.

'I am hungry,' Usha informed them and when her fangs lengthened in her mouth she had to curb the urge to lean forward and take the blood from the closest of the two that she could reach with them.

'Hear that I think that she is hungry,' Caleb announced and she watched as he scanned the area they were in. 'I don't see any deer for her to feed from,' he added afterwards.

'I refuse to feed from any one or anything but a human!' Usha cried and watched as the two kidnappers exchanged glances.

'It's going to have to be you Belle,' Caleb announced and Belle nodded her head understandingly and Usha was surprised not to see her body stiffen with disgust, however she could not see her friend's facial expressions so did not know what she was truly thinking.

'I know,' she spoke in a deadened voice and something within Usha made her stand up and think of what her transformation had done and was doing to a woman she once called best friend. She barely had time to think of it though, when Belle turned and offered her wrist to the bound vampire. 'Drink from me Red,' she ordered and without a second though the vampire Lady Usha die as she was told and sank her fangs deep within the vein of the witch's arm.

And as Usha fed she felt a strange sensation, it was the first time she'd fed from a living body and she was feeling...aroused it seemed. Well if her pearling nipples and dampening core were anything to go by then yes the act of drinking from a human was akin to sexual arousal. For her at least it seemed.

'Oh god,' Belle moaned and Usha raised her head to see that the witch's eyes were closed in bliss, was she feeling the exact same thing? When Belle coaxed Usha to feed once more it seemed as though the answer was yes.

Usha drank her fill and then some, and as the life giving liquid began to grow thin through the vein she felt strong arms around her, not embracing but pushing her from Belle and onto the ground. Usha bared her fangs at her mate and hissed a warning. Belle's blood had been exquisite and she felt there was no need for the font of blood to be taken from her.

'Are you okay Belle?' Caleb asked from where he lay atop of Usha. She growled up at him, for many reasons, one it felt so good to have him there, and two he was paying more attention to Belle than he was her. Yet when she looked over to her friend and saw that she was looking a lot more pale than usual she began to worry. Had she nearly drunk her friend to death? Was she truly as evil as she had believed they were to be by denying her the blood she needed? What had she become?

'I'm fine,' Belle said, raising a hand to her head to steady herself. 'We'll camp here tonight. There's a lot of tree coverage so she should be safe from the sun,' she finished and collapsed almost as soon as she'd finished speaking.

'Belle!' Caleb exclaimed and rushed to her side, dragging Usha with him. 'Now you see what you have done? Now you see what you have become? Belle loved, loves you for who and what you were, the kind, caring Red she and I both knew. Now look at you, what you have done. You are a monster Usha,' Caleb informed her as he dragged her to face Belle.

'I didn't mean to,' she moaned and he shook his head in disgust at her.

'I don't care what you did or didn't mean to do,' he spat angrily at her and she found that his passion his rage was very attractive and she found she was becoming aroused.

'I've been a bad girl,' she mused and he nodded.

'Yes you have.'

'Perhaps you should punish me,' Usha suggested as she stepped closer to him, until her chest was pressed against his. 'It's the only way an evil vampire like me could ever learn not kill through feeding,' she moaned huskily and watched his lips as they moved. Why had she never realised how luscious they were? How soft they looked?

'What kind of punishment did you have in mind? I am not above spanking you Usha,' Caleb announced and she sighed at that. A woman could only hope.

'I would expect nothing less from a strong man like you,' Usha said wishing she had her hands free so she could stroke her forefinger down his chest. 'So spank me, I've been a bad, evil vampire,' she moaned and before she knew what had happened he'd turned her over his knee and was actually bent on spanking her.

Smack! His hand came down hard and she moaned in bliss. Ooh, that was nice. She liked this pain. She liked everything about it.

Unfortunately the spanking did not last long before he helped her up and turned her to face him.

'Caleb!' She moaned and when he lowered his mouth onto hers she met it with a ferocious hunger like nothing she had ever experienced in her entire life. And as their tongues met in a battle for dominance Belle slept soundly beside them on the floor of the white forest.

'Usha,' he spoke huskily and grabbed her ass pulling her closer to him and his...hardness. Usha forgot all about her aversion to werewolves and allowed him to pull her closer and to kiss her harder, to squeeze her breast tight with his free hand. She was too aroused and too affected to say no; she wanted it to.


	11. Caleb and Usha under the stars

That night as they lay beneath the stars looking up at the beautiful night sky, Caleb held his mate close and pointed out all of the constellations that he knew and what they were called, he showed her Orion and many other star formations. He wanted to tell her all about him, but even after their passionate encounter after Belle's fainting fit he felt that it was still too soon, that he could not trust her not to use his life against him, she could tell him that he was cursed as a werewolf and that they were not as powerful as the vampire and that they were worse than dirt. She could tell him all these things and he knew it would break him. For he already knew that he was cursed, because of all that had happened, all that he had lost.

Caleb was not fond of his past or his own life in general. He had lost too many people to think that his life was worth living. And he would have given up, would have taken his own life had he not known that he had a mate. For all of his faults, his biggest was probably that he was selfless, he cared too much. And as he found himself holding Usha he discovered that he cared for her more than he'd ever cared for anyone before her. Dangerous for he knew she would use that caring nature of his to her advantage. He had not lied when he told her that the vampires were evil. They were vindictive, facetious and above all they were murderers.

When Caleb was twelve years old his very own father had been murdered by one of the heathen vampires and he had been alone for his mother had died alongside his father. That was the day he learned of fated mates. That was the day he was left alone in the wilderness to fend for himself, and it was not long after that when he met Lord Tristram for the very first time. And the Lord had left him be. At that moment he had been too stunned and too shocked to try and figure out why the vampire had not killed him as his kind had killed Caleb's family.

But then he'd met Little Red, and at night when she stayed at her grandmother's house on a weekend or a holiday he would come up to the little cottage as she strayed outside and she would pet him as he came to her in his canine form. She was the closest that he had to a family from that moment on. Little did he know he would soon come to crave her and obsess over her in a very stalker big bad wolf way. He had never wanted her to see him in his human form had never known that she was his, his mate. He hadn't even known for sure that she was until she had become a vampire. And there he had wallowed wondering how Fate could have matched him with a vampire of all beings, the very kind that had killed his family.

'You're quiet Caleb have you fallen asleep?' Usha asked, her tone bordering on innocent but he knew she only waited on sleep to take over him and then she would attempt her escape, but where would she go her father would surely know of their passionate embrace and would surely disown his daughter for meddling with the werewolf. He would know about their encounter as well as he'd known that Caleb was fated to his daughter, thus the reason he had not drunk from him that day in the woods. Tristram might be a dark evil Lord, but he would not kill his only heir, even if she was a weak pitiful human in his eyes.

'No my love, I am merely thinking of my family,' Caleb informed her and as he did he wondered how his parents would feel about his alliance with the dark daughter of the monster that had killed them. How would they feel about the cruel twist Fate had sprung upon him? Would they pity him and howl in agony? Or would they have disowned him raged and howled in dismay?

'They must love you dearly,' Usha murmured innocently against his chest and he felt her move her head so that she could lay her ear by his heart and he heard her sigh as she listened to the individual beating of his heart. So innocent she seemed, so clueless she was to what had actually happened to his family, but then again why would her father have boasted about killing werewolves if he wanted his daughter to become a vampire and to prove that they were not evil?

'They did yes, they loved me very dearly. I was their only child, why wouldn't they have loved me?' Caleb asked and he felt her shift on his chest to stare up at him.

'Did they love you for who you were? Did they ever want to change who you were?' Caleb saw Usha speak, her eyebrows narrow and her eyes soften in sadness and curiosity, but it was Little Red he heard when he heard her speak those words. For it was Little Red that had always wanted to be accepted by her father for what she was, not just that he wanted to change who she was. As she'd asked he'd seen a tear fall from her eyes, and he sensed that she was thinking about the way her father had always berated her because of her humanity and her beating heart, the fact that she detested blood and loved her friends, her human friends.

'Yes they always loved me for who I was, I always wanted to be around humans when I was a young were-cub and they were, they were afraid of exposure but they were totally okay with it in the end. They knew I was curious and they knew that if I was in wolf form it was okay for me to be around them. They loved me and they loved what I wanted, they always supported me,' Caleb said and he was the one to cry tears onto her delicate head.

'I wish I had known them,' Usha said and Caleb sniffed at that. He wished they had met her, or at least the Little Red that she had once been, the innocent wolf loving woman he had come to obsess over. Sometimes he wished she were still that woman, but a part of him was growing closer to Usha even though he knew they weren't the same woman any more. Although that was the unfortunate truth, Caleb did not believe that Little Red was evil, he didn't believe she could ever be evil, and it was that belief that had him pulling her closer, kissing the top of her head and closing his eyes to drift to sleep. It was that belief that encouraged him to trust in her.


	12. Usha's betrayal

'Stupid werewolf,' Usha whispered to herself as she carefully and silently rolled out and away from Caleb's arm, and then she used her new strength and sunk her fangs deep into her shoulder, chewing and biting until the left and the right arm had disappeared. The pain barely registered at the thought of freedom so close in her grasp, but she had clearly forgotten one important fact. He may be a stupid werewolf, but he was her stupid werewolf, they were mated and he felt everything that she felt, and as it was he began to moan in pain.

'Usha?' He asked confused and she shushed him, covering his mouth with hers and kissing him passionately, whilst at the same time taking his blood. And as she fed from him, her fangs beginning to throb, echoing that in her core, she found that the satisfaction of the taste of the blood, the warmth of his blood and the pain of her bite, were so excruciatingly orgasmic that she cared not. Whoa, she had definitely thought it would have been different because she was biting him and taking his blood, because they were supposed to be two halves of the same soul. But it wasn't, no that wasn't worse, no it was...so much better.

'Caleb,' she moaned between the drags of the delicacy which was his blood. And it was odd, the more blood she ingested the faster her arms healed, and before she knew what had happened they were back and the pain was gone from them. Just as she had planned.

'Usha why?' Caleb asked as she pulled away from him, beginning to turn from him. He seemed to have noticed the fact that her arms were free of their magical restraints as well as the rope that had bound her, and she realised for the first time that, with Belle unconscious her magic would have been affected. With that fact she realised that she could feel the lift of the magic; that she had for a while now. The only thing keeping her from realising it was the conversation she'd been having with Caleb, her mate the passion and care she had momentarily felt when she was in his arms. The sense of rightness, something she had never before felt. And as she thought back on it she mentally cursed Fate.

'Why, Caleb I was entirely weak and running out of blood, so of course I took yours,' Usha said as though it was obvious and when she watched him crumble down to the floor weak as she was, she realised that the blood she had taken from him kept her from doing the very same thing. So she could take his blood, weaken him but remain strong? Well why hadn't she thought of that before? If she had just taken his blood the moment they had met and drained him a little she would have been able to escape from him, call her father or even lock him in the dungeons, along with her used to be best friend.

'How could you?' He asked and she sneered at that before walking away. Shouldn't he have expected that from her, after all he was the one who had called her evil, by nature, by birth, by breed, wasn't he? He was the one who knew sooo much about the vampire breed that he knew for a fact that they were all evil. And as she sarcastically thought about that, she wondered if he had ever even met a vampire. He must have met a very bad one to think that they could all be so evil.

'Because I am as evil as you claim me to be Caleb,' Usha admitted and he looked up at her with such a hopeless look of betrayal that she just could not hide the laughter that threatened to escape from her mouth. Seriously the werewolf had trusted her? He had believed that she had wanted him last night, had believed her when she'd put on the Little Red act, the one she knew he wanted to see, to have. He didn't want or even like Usha, just like her father never wanted Red.

'No you're not Usha, I was wrong to say that, I saw the difference between evil and good vampire last night. You were the girl I knew you to be, you weren't Usha last night, and you were the girl I fell in love with as a young wolf you were the girl I knew had to be mine, but hadn't reached the right age to know for sure. Last night was the way I had always wanted to fall asleep with you, in my arms, beneath the stars. You didn't have any thought of betraying me when you slept in my arms,' Caleb said and she snorted. She'd slept?

'Wanna know a secret about vampires?' Usha asked and when he nodded eagerly she continued. 'We vampires don't sleep at night, we like to hunt, to feast, to drink from our prey. We do not need sleep,' she emphasised and turned her back on him. 'Now I'm leaving before the sun rises and I turn to dust because believe it or not I am a vampire and cannot be out in the sun unlike you.' Usha was becoming bored with this conversation and decided to take off, transforming into a bat and flying off into the night, somewhere close, somewhere the two of them would not look for her. And somewhere she would get her revenge.


End file.
